The long game China's grand strategy to displace American order

Rush Doshi

Book - 2021

"Drawing from decades worth of primary sources, a unique look into the Chinese government's grand strategy and what its true foreign policy objectives mean for the United States. For more than a century, no US adversary or coalition of adversaries--not Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, or even the Soviet Union--has ever reached sixty percent of US GDP. China is the sole exception, and it is fast emerging into a global superpower that could rival, if not eclipse, the United States. What does China want, does it have a grand strategy to achieve it, and what should the United States do about it? In The Long Game, Rush Doshi draws from a rich base of Chinese primary sources, including decades worth of party documents, leaked materials, me...moirs by party leaders, as well as careful analysis of China's conduct, to provide a history of China's grand strategy since the end of the Cold War. Taking readers behind the Party's closed doors, he uncovers Beijing's long, methodical game to displace America from regional and global order through three sequential "strategies of displacement." Doshi shows how China's strategy is profoundly shaped by key events that change its perception of American power--the end of the Cold War, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the populist elections of 2016, and the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Doshi offers a comprehensive yet "asymmetric" plan for an effective US response to the China challenge. Ironically, his proposed approach takes a page from Beijing's strategic playbook to undermine China's ambitions and strengthen American order without competing dollar-for- dollar, ship-for-ship, or loan-for-loan. A bold assessment of what the Chinese government's true foreign policy objectives are, The Long Game offers valuable insight to the most important rivalry in world politics."--Provided by publisher.

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Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Rush Doshi (author)
Physical Description
xii, 419 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780197527917
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • 1. "A Coherent Body of Thought and Action": Grand Strategy and Hegemonic Order
  • 2. "The Party Leads Everything": Nationalism, Leninism, and the Chinese Communist Party
  • Part I. "Hiding Capabilities and Biding Time": Blunting as China's First Displacement Strategy (1989-2008)
  • 3. "New Cold Wars Have Begun": The Trifecta and the New American Threat
  • 4. "Grasping the Assassin's Mace": Implementing Military Blunting
  • 5. "Demonstrate Benign Intentions": Implementing Political Blunting
  • 6. "Permanent Normal Trading Relations": Implementing Economic Blunting
  • Part II. "Actively Accomplish Something": Building as China's Second Displacement Strategy (2009-2016)
  • 7. "A Change in the Balance of Power": The Financial Crisis and the Dawn of Building
  • 8. "Make More Offensive Moves": Implementing Military Building
  • 9. "Establish Regional Architecture": Implementing Political Building
  • 10. "Aboard Our Development Train": Implementing Economic Building
  • Part III. "Great Changes Unseen in a Century": Global Expansion as China's Third Displacement Strategy (2017 and Beyond)
  • 11. "Toward the World's Center Stage": American Decline and Chinas Global Ambition
  • 12. "Standing Tall and Seeing Far": The Ways and Means of China's Global Expansion
  • 13. An Asymmetric Strategy for US-China Competition
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

Doshi (Brookings Institute) carefully researched China's strategic aims and methods through public but little-read Communist Party documents and speeches. He sees China's strategy in distinct phases. Deng Xiaoping's low-profile, "hide and bide" strategy--a frightened response to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, 1990 Gulf War, and 1991 Soviet collapse--shifted to what Doshi calls a "blunting" strategy, which included sea denial to the US. The 2008 financial meltdown brought a more active, "building" strategy, which featured the buildup of the military (especially the Navy), regional organizations, and banks. Xi Jinping piloted an "expansion" strategy with the Belt and Road Initiative. Doshi understands expansion as a long-term, centralized, patient strategy to take advantage of "great changes not seen in a century" and technology to displace a weakening US with Chinese power. Doshi explores other explanations for Beijing's behavior but finds them wanting. Beijing, after careful analysis, knows what it must do and will not be deterred. Similar to other China-hawk books, such as Pillsbury's Hundred-Year Marathon (2015), but more scholarly, Doshi suggests the need for US pushbacks to blunt China's efforts. US passivity is insufficient. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. --Michael G. Roskin, emeritus, Lycoming College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.